Game Daily: This week in Husky history -- Ducks get grounded

Oct 16, 2015, 9:00 AM

On Homecoming Day, Oct. 23, 1993, the Washington football team extended their four-game winning streak against Oregon to five under new head coach Jim Lambright, defeating the Ducks 21-6. The win was the 17th straight victory at Husky Stadium for the then-22nd ranked Huskies, which remains tied for second most consecutive home wins in UW history. Lambright’s risky moves and belief in his players paid off, with the Huskies compiling their best rushing performance since the season-opener with 290 yards. “It was time for us to establish control on the line of scrimmage,” Lambright told The Seattle Times. Then-junior tailback Napoleon Kaufman had 142 yards and two touchdowns on the day, including a 58-yard touchdown, which stood as the longest rush of the 1993 season for the UW. His second touchdown was a 1-yard run, which preceded a fumbled handoff by Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil. When Kaufman dove over the pile, he unintentionally completed almost a full flip before landing on his back in the end zone. “I guess the line sealed off the middle,” Kaufman told The Seattle Times. “I jumped and there was no one there. I screamed ‘aaahhh!’ on the way down.” Kaufman remains in the UW record book as a 1,000 yard rusher for the 1992, 1993, and 1994 seasons. He holds the record for most yards rushing in a career with 4,106 from 1991-94. In the 1995 NFL Draft, Kaufman was the 18th pick in the first round and played with the Oakland Raiders for the entirely of his NFL career, from 1995-2000. With a strong presence on the ground that day against Oregon, quarterback Damon Huard saw less action than usual, though he helped set up Beno Bryant’s 35-yard touchdown run during the first scoring drive. Bryant had 73 yards on the day to go along with his score. Huard completed 12-of-22 for 96 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Eric Bjornson led the final two touchdown drives, filling in as an option quarterback on every fourth down. He converted three fourth downs and rushed seven times for 18 yards. “I looked at the players, and there was no question what they wanted to do,” Lambright told The Seattle Times. “We were getting enough push up front, and we wanted to keep the ball.” The UW’s defense helped force O’Neil into six interceptions on the day. O’Neil sits at second in the UW record book for most pass interceptions thrown behind fellow Duck George Shaw with seven. In Lambright’s first year as head coach for the Huskies, they finished with a 7-4-0 overall record, and 5-3-0 in the Pac-10 conference. From 1974 to 1993, the Huskies won 17 of 20 matchups with the Ducks. This year will be the 108th matchup between the Northwest rivals. The UW leads the all-time series against Oregon at 58-44-5. The Huskies have a 31-21-4 record in games played in Seattle. Reach Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Altena at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @kkaltena

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